Importing OrCAD libraries

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A follow up: I used the translator to update a design previously imported into KiCAD.

Encountered some problems:

  1. To allow users to embedded whitespace into component values I read the OrCAD value field with getline() as the value would appears as two (or more tokens), e.g. 1uF50V versus 1uF 50V. HOWEVER, PCBnew (KiCAD’s layout tool) balked at the embedded white space. The error messages from PCBnew located the “error” and was repaired with a text editor.
  2. KiCAD replaces user netnames internally with a node number. When updating the netlist the KiCAD layout was hopelessly scrambled and I exited PCBnew without saving the changes. On the second try I clicked the radio button “Re-associated footprints by reference” (as apposed to “Keep existing symbol to footprint associations”) and the update when smoothly.

To avoid associating new footprints by hand (using a text editor) I “preloaded” the new footprints in PCBnew using the “Add footprint” command off the right hand menu. The generic reference (as loaded from the library) was updated to the new references imported from OrCAD Capture. Of course, one could use a text editor for this operation on the translated netlist, but with only a few changes, the command was handy. The tool allows the user to brows previously associated libraries and pick the footprint of interest.

DE

08feb2021